LAKE CHARLIES, La. – Twelve hits with five being for extra bases guide the University of the Incarnate Word to a 6-2 victory over McNeese State University to open the three-game Southland Series tonight. The Cardinals are 17-17 and 8-11, while the Cowboys fall to 17-17 and 7-9 in the conference.
Tonight's win is the first win since 2024 against McNeese State and the team's 10
th win in the series. UIW's two runs it gave up tonight are the second lowest in a victory in program history against the Cowboys. The last time they allowed two or fewer runs in a win was back on March 22, 2019, during a 4-1 win.
The Cowboys jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after the first, but UIW took the lead at the top of the second. With two down,
Tyler Garritano walked and then scored on
Trent Rucker's two-run shot over the left field wall to put the Cardinals up, 2-1.
McNeese State tied the game in the bottom half of the second on an RBI double down the left field line.
UIW broke the tie in the top of the third when
Jake Weaver homered to left field to lead off the inning to put the Cardinals up, 3-2. Then two batters later,
Colin Cymbalista belted a home run to straightaway center on the first pitch he saw with two down to make it 4-2 before the inning ended.
The Cardinals added a run in the seventh and in the ninth innings to push the lead to. 6-2.
As a team, UIW tallied two doubles and three home runs on top of seven singles. The Cardinals also registered five walks and two hit by pitches. Every starter tallied a hit for the Cardinals.
Tony DeJesus,
Christian Enriquez, and Rucker each finished the game with two hits. Rucker was 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs, and a run scored, while Enriquez was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.
Weaver finished the contest going 1-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored, and an RBI.
Newberry, Cymbalista, Garritano,
Cole Tabor, and
Drake Anderson all tallied a hit.
Reliever
Ashton Perkins picked up the win to improve to 3-1 on the season. He was part of a bullpen that allowed just three hits over six innings. Fellow reliever
Chase Blease tallied a game-high six strikeouts.
Starting pitcher
Zac Colletti went three innings allowing two runs on five hits and striking out three.
UIW and McNeese State are back in action tomorrow for game two of the series at 2 p.m. CT and can been seen on ESPN+.